Hellenistic Ethical Lexicon

Building on his previous work on Hellensitic Interstate Political Ethics (T&T Clark 2022) leading historian Doron Mendels presents three hundred interstate ethical rules of conduct which he has discovered within three reconstructed Hellenistic codes. These codes appear in the work of three major Hellenistic historical writers, and Mendels also adds remarks that appear in The Letter of Aristeias. Mendels has formulated these - probably originally oral --rules embedded within the historical narratives using a mixture of statements by rulers and other actors concerning interstate relationships, historical events which point to ethical behavior of states and/or their breach, as well as related thoughts of the historians themselves regarding interstate encounters. The result is a comprehensive catalogue of ethical rules referring to behavior on the international scene, which include not only rules per se but also a lexicon of moral terms borrowed from the individual ethical scenarios. The volume constitutes a significant addition to knowledge of the Hellenistic era (in the 1st-3rd centuries), the universe against which Judaism and early Christianity operated.